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essentialsaltes -> UC requires critical thinking in high school (8/12/2008 6:23:54 PM)
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In 2005, the Association of Christian Schools International sued the University of California for denying approval of certain high school classes taught at Christian schools. Recently, the UC won the case: UC press release, and full court decision.
Among the courses was a biology class. The text used in the class was evaluated by the UC and found to (among other faults) "[fail] to encourage critical thinking," which led to the class being denied approval for college admission.
Dr. Behe spoke (or wrote, rather) for the plaintiffs, saying that the text "mentions standard scientific content," but apparently did not address the "primary concerns that the nature of science, the theory of evolution, and critical thinking are not taught adequately."
Three of the other disputed courses were...
English: text was "inconsistent with . . . expectations regarding critical thinking and broad exposure to writers' key works."
History: "the text failed to adequately teach critical thinking and modern historical analytic methods"
Government: "text does not acknowledge the commonly-accepted framework for scholarly analysis and provides little opportunity for critical thinking"
I'm very relieved to hear that the governing body of my alma mater has some standards, requiring high schools to instil critical thinking in their students. However, the plaintiffs are appealing, so the fight to relax standards goes on.
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